On the Road with the Grape Guy
Boscarelli: Nocio thru the Years
12 Oct 2025- Details
- Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
(February 2025) ... This year, during the Vino Nobile anteprima tasting, Boscarelli invited journalists to taste through one of their single vineyard wines, Nocio, first created in 1991. This has the potential to be their Pieve offering, but so could their other single vineyard, Costa Grande. But today is all about Nocio.
This two hectare vineyard is planted to Sangiovese, with a little Mammolo hanging out with it. While the vines “live” together, they no longer live in a bottle together; it was removed from the blend completely by the 2000s. This hillside vineyard takes three passages to pick, and is made up of clay and sandy soils. About 4,000 bottles are produced per year.
Today's tasting looked at 1991 through to the present, by looking at eight selected vintages.
Boscarelli 1991 Riserva del Nocio (Sangiovese 90% / Mammolo 10%) 
- note: first vintage - concrete fermentation, sees oak aging; goodish vintage conditions
Great acidity carries this wine. Fruit is still lively and feels fresh. Nose has an oxidized element, but that palate feels fresh, though a touch raisinate on the finish. This wine is very much alive and kicking ... DRINK
Boscarelli 1995 Vigna del Nocio (Sangiovese 93% / Merlot 7%)
- note: steel fermentation - sees oak for aging; great vintage)
Fruit is red and elegant: steely with good acidity. Bright and lively, it has a few more years left in its lifespan. Leaning more drink than hold ... DRINK or HOLD
Boscarelli 2001 Nocio dei Boscarelli (Sangiovese)
- note: oak and steel ageing and fermenting; great vintage
Wine is showing some spice and dark fruit but still lively and fresh with a nice finish ... DRINK or HOLD
Boscarelli 2006 Nocio dei Boscarelli (Sangiovese)
- note: oak and steel ageing and fermenting; good, but too dry to be considered great
Balsamic and black fruit, hint of mint. This is a bigger wine, with lots of intensity. Good tannins, acidity, and a long finish. The wood here seems to want to dominate, whether the fruit can hang on is another story ... DRINK
Boscarelli 2012 Il Nocio (Sangiovese)
- note: oak and steel ageing and fermenting; regular vintage, then no rain in August
Intense, ripe and full bodied with spices and dark fruits. Balsamic notes give way to a big acid punch. This one needs time, but it's another case of the wood fighting with the fruit ... DRINK or HOLD
Boscarelli 2016 Il Nocio (Sangiovese)
- note: oak and steel ageing and fermenting; “fresh” vintage
Coming out of the other side of a wood dominated wine; here the fruit is king and the wood is the side-show. Lovely and elegant fruit with a nice intensity of tannins. Acidity is on point and plays well with the fruit core … this wine has time on its side ... HOLD
Boscarelli 2018 Il Nocio (Sangiovese)
- note: oak and steel ageing and fermenting; “fresh” vintage
Still dominated by tannins and wood; but the fruit is dancing in the background like a id in the schoolyard yelling “pick me, pick me”, good intensity ... HOLD
Boscarelli 2021 Il Nocio (Sangiovese)
- note: oak and steel ageing and fermenting; good vintage
Preview of what is to come: nice intensity of fruit and spice with red currants and spiced strawberry notes. (oak and steel - good vintage)
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Three more wines:
A quick note about Costa Grande: briefly mentioned in the opening, Costa Grande is the other wine in the running for Pieve-status. This 1.5 hectare vineyard lies on the other side of the hill from Nocio. It sees two passages during harvest, the terrain is made up of sandy, clay, and red soils, and the grapes see a lot of morning sun. According to Luca Ferrari, winery principal and part of the ownership family, this is more the style they are looking to present their Pieve.
Boscarelli 2018 Costa Grande - Vino Nobile (Sangiovese) 
This one is all intense fruit and savoury with good acidity. Fresh and lively - this is potentially the style they are looking for as their Pieve offering. Time will tell what Boscarelli decides to do. This is a very different expression of single vineyard Sangiovese than the Nocio.
Boscarelli 2022 Il Bianca (Viognier / Petit Manseng / Vermentino)
Lovely fruit and minerality: peach and passionfruit with nice green apple and lemon ... super good with punchy acidity. (****) – video review link
Boscarelli 2021 Sotto Casa (Sangiovese / Merlot / CS)
This is the dark side of Boscarelli and not just because it’s loaded with dark fruit, namely black cherry and cassis, but also mocha and great balancing acidity meet up with pencil shavings, and a little oak punch; but the fruit rises to the top and dances its way through the mouth – stunningly good and quite ageable. (****+) – video link here
COMING SOON: Our chat with Luca Ferrari on Two Guys Talking Wine
